Ingredients of High-Rise Design

Ta i p e i 1 0 1

the Worlds Tallest Building

By Leonard M. Joseph, Dennis Poon and Shaw-song Shieh

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Taipei 101 and the Thornton-Tomasetti Group, Inc. were presented an Outstanding
Project Award (New Buildings over $30 t
ighMillion) in the NCSEA 2005 Excellence

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in Structural Engineering awards
p y rprogram.
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Recipe for a structural challenge: lion square feet accommodates a
take one basic office tower, super retail podium and five levels of

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size to worlds-tallest proportions, basement parking.

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carve into a unique shape, fan (in The unusual tower shape had
typhoons) and shake well (in earth-

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its own logic. Architect C.Y. Lee

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quakes) Serves thousands (of ten- of C.Y. Lee & Partners, Taipei,

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ants and visitors)... This is Taipei Taiwan drew on local culture, in-

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101 in Taiwan, Republic of China. cluding the regularly-spaced joints
With a height of 1667 feet (508

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m) in 101 stories, it is currently the
a in tall, slender indigenous bam-
boo, the tiers of pagodas and the

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worlds tallest building. It also fea- popularity of lucky number 8, a Figure 2: Elevations along interior

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tures difficult foundation conditions, homonym for wealth in Chinese. gridlines show the braced core and
unusual building shapes, demanding Thus the upper portion of Taipei eleven sets of outrigger trusses one,

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lateral stiffness requirements, mixed 101 has eight modules, each with two and three stories tall.
structural materials, wind/building eight stories. Each module flares
interaction, occupant comfort crite- wider at its top, like an opening flower, before the narrow base of the
ria, seismic demands, special ductility next module starts, forming a setback. The set of modules bears on a
details and fatigue life concerns a truncated pyramidal base, square in plan, creating a narrow waist at
veritable smorgasbord of the design Level 26. Above the modules the design is completed by a spire, rising
issues that apply to many high rise from the Level 91 outdoor observation/roof deck and supported on a
buildings today. A review of the chal- base of smaller floors flared to echo the sloped walls below.
lenges and solutions has relevance to The resulting unique profile is instantly recognizable as an icon of
all designers. modern Taiwan (Figure 1). It also has structural implications. For ad-
equate lateral stiffness and strength, a building this tall and narrow can-
Architectural Shaping not rely on a central core alone. This core is relatively compact thanks
to extensive use of double-decked elevators. The tallest buildings
The first design issues were the ones
since the 1960s have gained structural efficiency by placing the lateral
driving most commercial construc-
load resisting system at the building perimeter the giant X braces of
tion: money and prestige. Initially,
Chicagos John Hancock Tower and diamonds of Bank of China, the
owner Taipei Financial Center Corpo-
perimeter tubes of the World Trade Center twin towers and bundled
ration planned that the full-block site
tubes of Sears Tower do all the work. Even the soft tube of widely
would contain several towers of more
spaced perimeter columns and ring beams resists half the overturning
modest height, providing the same to-
of Petronas Towers. But a perimeter framed tube that followed the
tal office space for less cost. But all the
sloping faades of Taipei 101 would require transfers at the frequent
investor-occupants wanted space in the
tallest one. A single tall tower was the
best way to please everyone, and the
number of floors resulted from simple
math: dividing the area of a typical of-
fice floor plate into 2.1 million square
feet of project-
Figure 1: Eight flared modules of eight stories each evoke
jointed bamboo and tiered pagodas on Taipei 101. ed office space
Sawtooth corners to reduce wind effects are visible as demand. An- Figure 3a: This tracing from the wind tunnel test with a sharp-cornered tower
parallel lines. Photo courtesy of Turner International. other 2.1 mil- with 1% damping shows large crosswind overturning moments.
 Of course, design must consider both load application and load re-
sistance. In typhoon regions, minimizing wind force is an economic
imperative. Wind tunnel testing at RWDI in Guelph, Ontario, Can-
ada revealed that, based on building plan dimensions and anticipated
wind speeds (3 second gusts of 150 miles per hour at an elevation of
10 meters in a 100-year-storm) vortex generation at building corners
could occur at a rate matching the tower sway rate or period, causing
Figure 3b: Replacing right-angle corners with double-stairstep notched corners very large crosswind oscillations. Different corner shapes candisrupt
dramatically reduces wind overturning moments. vortex formation, so rounded, chamfered (45o) and stepped or notched

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corners were tested. Curves and chamfers helped somewhat, but saw-
tooth or double stairstep notched corners brought a dramatic reduc-

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tion in crosswind excitation (Figures 3a, b, and c). After witnessing the
tests, the architect incorporated double steps 8.1 feet (2.5 m) deep at
the corners of all eight typical building modules (Figure 4).

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Cop corner
Figure 3c: Increasing building damping from 1 to 2.5% on the notched
model slightly reduces wind forces.

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setbacks. Deflections of those transfers would make the system too

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flexible to be practical. Transfers could certainly be avoided by carry-
ing the closely spaced columns straight down, but that would mean
the columns would either protrude outside the faade planes at nar-

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rower floors, or interfere with interior space planning at wider floors.
Neither option was acceptable. However, a few columns on each face
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could be vertical, as long as usage along the rest of the perimeter was
not impeded. These were used as outrigger columns in a core-and-

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outrigger scheme: a square core has four lines of steel diagonal and
chevron bracing each way linking 16 core columns. At selected floors
the bracing lines are extended out to engage the outrigger columns.
Outrigger systems become more efficient and effective with more out-
a Figure 5: This steel plate box column shows internal shear studs, holes
in diaphragm plates for access and vertical rebar, stiffeners, crossties

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rigger levels, and stiffer outrigger trusses. The refuge/mechanical floor
on each of the eight modules, and other mechanical rooms, provided
ideal opportunities for numerous well-spaced outriggers (Figure 2).
and a bottom up concrete fill pipe at right. Projecting plates at
bottom engage a basement concrete slab.

Stiffness and Comfort

Even after reduction, the wind forces are still very large and deflec-
tions are a concern. The building frame was to be of structural steel, for
three good reasons: to minimize cost of tower foundations by keeping
building weight low, to minimize seismic forces by keeping building
mass low, and to benefit from a strong,
skilled and competitive local steel con-
struction industry. However, a steel
structural frame sized just for strength
would be too flexible to control inter-
story drift and overall building sway
to avoid damage to nonstructural ele-
ments, or to maintain occupant com-
fort during frequent storms. To limit
building sway and interstory drift to
height/200 in a 50-year-storm, addi-
tional stiffness would be needed. Add-
ing stiffness by adding steel would be
expensive. Instead, stiffness is provided
by high-strength concrete. Main build-
ing columns up to Level 90 sixteen
in the core and two (at upper floors) Figure 6: The main outrigger
to four on each face at outrigger lines columns slope along the
Figure 4: At each setback a criss-cross grid of outrigger trusses links pyramidal base, run vertical
sixteen core box columns to the major outrigger columns on each
are built-up boxes of steel plate 2- to
and change size at upper floors
building face. Underfloor trusses horizontally transfer perimeter 3c-inch thick. The boxes were filled and are filled with high-strength
moment frame shear. with 10,000 psi concrete up to Level concrete up to Level 62.
62 in two-story lifts, using a bottom-up

STRUCTURE magazine 41 June 2006

 Fatigue
Other TMDs addressed a smaller structural
challenge: metal fatigue. Like the main tower, the
slender rooftop spire is a sharp-cornered square in
plan, so it is also subject to cross-wind excitation
from vortex shedding. However, the small spire
width means vortex shedding starts at relatively
low, frequently-occurring wind speeds. Millions

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of cycles of wind sway could occur over the years.
In addition, different vibration modes are excited
as wind speed varies. The spire has a trussed

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steel spine, and steel is subject to metal fatigue,
gradual crack growth under cyclic axial stresses.
Welded connections are particularly susceptible.

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Vertical chord members of the spine are axially
ht stressed by spire bending. Fatigue life is improved
yrig

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by modifying details to reduce stresses at welded
Cop joints in the chord members, and modifying

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spire behavior to reduce the crosswind forces that
generate cyclic stresses. Two compact TMDs
were installed to reduce sway, each tuned to one

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Figure 7: The Tuned Mass Damper is a four-story-tall critical vibration mode for the spire. Each TMD
pendulum with a spherical mass of stacked steel plates has a 5 ton mass sliding horizontally on two sets
surrounded by large dampers or shock absorbers.

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of orthogonal rollers, like skateboards stacked

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at right angles. Instead of gravity pulling on a

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technique to minimize trapped air pockets under internal diaphragms pendulum, the mass returns to its central position

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(Figures 5 and 6). The result was indeed stiff: building period is less

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by spring sets, cables and pulleys. Dampers link Figure 9: Sloping
than 7 seconds, compared to the 9 seconds one might expect for a the mass and the building frame (Figure 8). perimeter moment

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tower of this height and slenderness. frames on each

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While the stiffness target was met, occupant comfort was still an face have belt
Seismicity and Soils
issue. Steel framing has low inherent damping, estimated at 1% of

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trusses at each
critical damping for moderate windstorms, so cyclic wind excitation can Seismic conditions impose a different set of setback to deliver

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build up over time. This could result in accelerations at upper floors design requirements. By code, a building of this gravity load to
reaching uncomfortable levels. The solution? Add more damping height requires a dual system for lateral loads, so main outrigger
each face includes a perimeter moment frame of columns.
to the building. A Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) occupies Levels 87-
91 as the centerpiece of a public lounge. Designed by Motioneering comparatively light beams and columns, sloped
of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, it is a 726 ton sphere of stacked steel to follow the glass line. Gravity load in these frames transfers to
plates, suspended from four pairs of steel cables to creates a pendulum main outrigger columns by belt trusses at the bottom of each module
equivalent to 0.26 percent of building weight. Adjusting the free cable (Figure 9). Outrigger columns sized for stiffness have ample capacity
length tunes the sway rate to match the tower. The mass pushes and to carry this gravity load, and it helps offset wind uplift forces on
pulls large dampers as it swings in opposition to the tower (Figure 7). the columns. Beams in the braced core and floor are also moment
The dampers reduce building sway by converting a portion of the connected to enhance redundancy and provide alternate load paths.
wind motion into heat. This is the largest building TMD installation Looking at member deformations under seismic load identified hot
to date. With the additional damping provided by the TMD, occupant
comfort criteria at the upper tower floors are met.

Figure 8: Each of the Tuned Mass Dampers in

the spire has a 5 ton steel mass sliding on two- Figure 10: Yellow dots show locations of Reduced Beam Section
way roller tables and restrained by springs dogbone details for enhanced ductility at points of greatest flexural
through cables and pulleys. rotation demand.

STRUCTURE magazine 44 June 2006

 Project Team
Owner:
Taipei Financial Center Corporation
Taipei, Taiwan

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Architect:
C. Y. Lee & Partners

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Figure 11: Reduced beam sections were provided by a Taipei, Taiwan
precise combination of cuts.
Engineer of Record:

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spots where curvature demand was greatest (Figures 10a and 10b). In Evergreen Consulting Engineering
those locations, using reduced beam section or dogbone flange trim Taipei, Taiwan
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righthe

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details forces yielding to occur within the beam and away from
welded beam-column joint, improving ductility. Reduced p y
Co section Engineering Consultant:
geometry followed the approach of the National Science Council in Thornton Tomasetti

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Taiwan (Figures 11 and 12). New York, New York, USA
Discussion of seismicity brings us back down to the ground, where
construction must begin. Geotechnology, Inc. of Taipei determined Wind Consultant:

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that drilled, cast-in-place concrete piers were needed to bypass clay and Rowan Williams Davies and Irwin Guelph
Ontario, Canada

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soil 130 to 200 ft deep and deliver load to soft rock by long sockets.

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Two types of piers are used; 380 piers 5-foot diameter support a Damping Consultant:

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tower mat 10 to 15 feet thick. The surrounding podium, in contrast, Motioneering
has one 6.5-foot diameter pier under each column. Socketing the

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Guelph, Ontario, Canada
pier 16 to 92 feet into bedrock resists net uplift from a 70-foot deep
basement with the water table only 6 feet below grade. Construction

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manager Turner Construction International and contractor KTRT Geotechnology, Inc.

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Joint Venture used the single pier per column to permit top down Taipei, Taiwan
excavation under the podium: as each pier was installed from grade,
Construction Manager:
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the basement portion of the steel column was embedded within.
Then steel erection proceeded upward while excavation proceeded Turner Construction International LLC
downward. Building each basement floor as that depth was reached Taipei, Taiwan
provided lateral bracing for basement walls and podium columns.
This approach permitted the podium retail mall to open well Contractor:
ahead of the office tower. Two rings of basement walls were needed. KTRT Joint Venture
One surrounded the site, while the other enclosed just the tower
footprint to permit tower mat construction by conventional means.
Construction schedule benefits were worth the expense of added
basement wall costs.
Leonard M. Joseph, P.E., S.E., a Principal in the Irvine,
Wind and earthquakes, shaping and shaking, digging and damping:
California office of Thornton Tomasetti, has designed high
all are ingredients of high rise building design in the 21st Century.
rise, long span and other building types across the U.S. and in
The Taipei 101 tower puts them all together in one unique, beautiful,
Asia and Australia, including Malaysias Petronas Towers.
super-sized package.

Dennis Poon, P.E., a Managing Principal in the New

York City office of Thornton Tomasetti, has developed the
structural designs for numerous complex large-scale building
projects in the U.S. and Asia, including Plaza 66 in
Shanghai. He led Thornton Tomasettis participation in
the Taipei 101 design process.

Shaw-song Shieh, P.E., S.E., led the Structural Engineer

of Record design team for Taipei 101 as President of
Evergreen Consulting Engineering in Taipei, Taiwan,
Republic of China.
Figure 12: Tapered flange trimming at selected link beams creates a
dogbone condition to improve ductility by locating beam yield zones
away from welded joints.

STRUCTURE magazine 45 June 2006